European Journalists April Issue | Page 31

MEDICAL  MALPRACTICE     When  you  need  medical  assistance,  you  usually  go  to   a   hospital,   however,   sometimes   you   can   be   a   victim   of  medical  malpractice  .   Nowadays   it   is   a   widespread   phenomenon   in   some   Italian   hospitals     ant   it   may   represent   a   serious   problem  for  our  future  generations.   Medical   malpractice   is   a   professional   negligence,   by   act   or   omissions   by   a   healthcare   provider   in   which   the   treatment   falls   below   the   accepted   standard   of   practice   in   the   medical   community   and   causes   injury   or   even   death   to   the   patient.   Most   cases   involve   medical  errors.   A  survey  which    analyzed  the  last    two  years  of  medical  activity  showed  that  in   Italy  there  are  19  cases  of  malpractice  per  month.   Sometimes  malpractice  means  “injury”,  but  it   often  leads  to  death.   Recently,  in  Sicily,  doctors  used  to  give  unsuitable   prescriptions  or  cures  to  earn  money.  In  the  north     of   Italy,   some   hospitals   treat   the   patients’   organs   as  a  means  to  improve  the  trade  of  organs  and  sell   them   to   other   foreign   countries.   Luckily   these   horrible   crimes   have   been   discovered   and   doctors,   hospital  managers  and  nurses  have  been  arrested  ,   and   no-­‐profit   and       organizations   have   become   helpful   to   supply   appropriate   healthcare.  A  recent  survey  has  shown  that  these  no-­‐profit  associations,  such  as   the   Red   Cross”       together   with   doctors,   scientists   and   nurses     are   trying   to   are   fighting   to   improve   medical   practice   by   unmasking   these   horrible   acts   and   get   better   hospital   structures.   Indeed,   in   spite   of   all,   there   are   always   more   cutting   edge   medical   structures   and   organizations,   which   are   created   with   the   aim   of   making  Italian  Medical  Sector  one  of  the  best  in  Europe.   Giuseppe  Minniti